Films about a fascist Britain are nothing new. However, where V for Vendetta was a bludgeon, Children of Men is a scalpel. It is an extremely violent film, the acts coming with neither warning nor celebration; a bleak comment on race relations, globalization, media, surveillance and xenophobia. In contrast with the film’s gray palette, every scene is saturated with detail: photographs, signs, advertisements, sideband messages reminiscent of the Bolex Brothers’ Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb or Graeme Base’s earlier children’s books. Like the latter, filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón makes clear his contempt for the current war in Iraq, the hypocrisy of western drug policy and immigration law. Children of Men is not only the best film made in 2006, it is probably the best near future science fiction film made in the past 30 years.

Just finished my first century of the year. Rode up to the Marshall Wall and back. Handy measurement: The top of the Wall is exactly halfway. Need to practice though, this 8 hours and change thing has to stop.

Last night I went climbing for the first time in a couple weeks, finally (somewhat) recovered from the Cold. Struggled up my first 5.10d (woo!) and knocked down this 5.10c that had been a thorn in my side. The secret was a faraway single foothold on the other side of the overhang. Janet says I’m just using my feet and/or brain more instead of trying to brute force my way up the wall. She’s mostly right, except for the brain part.

In other news, I just registered for a double century. This is a bicycle ride where you go 200 miles in one day. Only insane people who wear spandex and spend way too much cabbage on bikes do this sort of thing. Now that that’s out in the open, I’ll be stealing some of Nick’s cookies.